Rolls-Royce Accel Electric Airplane

Once humans prove a thing can be done, they next figure out how that thing can be done fastest. To wit: Manned electric flight is still in its relative infancy, yet Rolls-Royce is determined to build an all-electric plane that can go faster than any other electric plane to date. Their target speed is 300 miles an hour and the record-breaking hopeful is partially funded by the UK government and is being built in partnership with British aviation startup Electroflight and American electric motor manufacturer YASA.

Among the new tech needed for the craft is an all new dense, but relatively lightweight, battery pack giving the ACCEL a potential range of 200 miles, and three high power density electric motors aiming to pump out 500 horsepower. Rolls Royce (the industrial tech company, not the car brand beloved by the Beckhams and Kardashians of the world) is scheduling the record run for 2020, in South West England just outside of Gloucestershire. Soon we all get to see what fastest looks like. – Learn More

Amy Skorheim is a writer living in New Mexico. She spends her time wisely—reading and writing about tech and gear or doing stuff outside. You can find her (albeit not easily) hiking or camping somewhere in the wild.